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All About The Hack Squat

Ive been bodybuilding for over 15 years now and a lot has
changed since then. I started out at my high school gym and now train in Golds,
I use to work out in the evening and now I train before work, I use to take
plain creatine monohydrate and now I use BSN Cellmass. I lot has
changed, but one thing that hasnt change is the importance of hack squats and
how its executed.

EXECUTION

 Looking away from the machine, stand beneath the
resistance pads so they sit on your shoulders. Put your feet hip- to
shoulder-width apart and about 11 inches in front of your body.

 Keeping your torso upright and your back tight against the
pad at all times. Look forward so that your head is in sync with your torso.

 Breath in slightly more than normal and hold your breath
as you bring your body down into a squat until your thighs are near parallel to
the floor.

 Continue keeping your breath as you move from the down
position to the up position; pushing forcefully with your legs to make the
transition strong but smooth.

 Exhale as you pass the most difficult part of the up phase
and as you return to the start position.

 Maintain your neutral spinal position  a slight arch in
the lumbar spine  during the descent and ascent.

WORKOUT TIPS

 If you place your feet directly under your body as in a
regular free squat, you'll find it extremely difficult to keep your torso erect
and to maintain the arch in your lumbar spine. Your knees may also move out well
in front of your feet, placing excessive stress on your knees and conceivably
injuring them or your lower back.

 It may help to think of the hack squat as a wall squat:
Your torso remains erect and you contract your erector spinae (lower-back
muscles) to maintain normal spinal curvature throughout the range of motion.

 In the free-standing squat, tight hamstrings can rotate
the pelvis backward, creating a rounded back that can be very dangerous. The
hack squat is very safe  your torso doesn't incline forward, your hamstrings
aren't stretched maximally at the hip end, and bending your knees gives the
hamstrings slack without rotating your pelvis.

 The hamstrings aren't as strongly involved in this
exercise as they are in the barbell squat, although squatting deeper will
involve the hamstrings and glutes more.

 Hold your breath during the down phase and transition to
the up phase. Exhaling at the wrong time, especially near the bottom position,
reduces internal torso pressure and spine stability.

 Keep your head aligned with your torso by looking forward
throughout the exercise. Looking down contracts the abdominals, which can round
your spine, making the lumbar area weak and susceptible to injury. Looking up
can hyperextend your spine, which can lead to disc compression problems.

 Don't pause in the bottom position. Make the transition
from down phase to up phase quickly and smoothly, with no abrupt or bouncy
movements that can hurt your knees.

PRIMARY MUSCLES INVOLVED

Located on the front of the thigh, the quadriceps muscle
group consists of the vastus lateralis, vastus medialis, vastus intermedius and
rectus femoris. Most of the mass of the vastus lateralis and medialis is close
to the knee joint on either side; the muscles are commonly known as the
teardrop muscles. The vastus intermedius is found mid-thigh, and the rectus
femoris has action at both the knee and hip.

The gluteus maximus and hamstrings muscles are strongly
involved if you squat to thigh-level or below. The gluteus maximus is the large
muscle of the glutes; the hamstrings are composed of three separate muscles 
the biceps femoris, semitendinosus and semimembranosus. They cross the sides of
the knee before inserting on the lower leg and provide lateral stability to the
knee. The erector spinae of the lower back, located on both sides of the spine,
holds the normal curvature of the lumbar spine.

MUSCLE/JOINT ACTIONS

The quadriceps muscle group is involved in knee-joint
extension in which the thigh moves away from the shin. The gluteus maximus and
hamstrings are involved in hip-joint extension in which the thighs move from a
parallel or below-parallel position to the vertical, bringing the pelvic girdle
and torso in line with the legs. The erector spinae muscles, especially in the
lumbar area, remain under isometric contraction to maintain the normal
curvature of the spine.

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